news - FMO provides EUR 25 million loan to Lome Container Terminal, Togo

Lome Container Terminal (LCT) is a Greenfield container terminal within the Port of Lomé, Togo. Lomé has one of the few natural deep water ports in West and Central Africa and is well located to serve as a transshipment hub for West Africa.

The terminal will have an annual handling capacity of 1.5 million TEU and will enable shipping lines to deploy larger container vessels in West and Central Africa. The terminal will significantly lower regional transportation costs, encourage regional integration and create income and jobs to Togo.

The Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s second largest container shipping line, has committed to be the anchor customer for the terminal. Large mother vessels (up to 14,000 TEU) will berth at the terminal and will offload imports for the region. The containers will be stored and then onloaded on feeder vessels, typically around 1,000-2,000 TEU to service ports in the region. Exports from the region will be onloaded on the feeders and transshipped on the mother vessel in Lomé. Container transport in West Africa is expected to grow along with the projected GDP growth and the related increase in import and export volumes.

The total cost for the project is estimated at EUR 324 million and is the largest foreign direct investment by the private sector in Togo.